Reprinted from November 23rd, 2010 article on eFormulaCarNews.com

EFCN One-on-One:
FormulaSPEED2.0's Mark Milazzo and Telo Stewart  

The upcoming 2011 season will mark the introduction of a new car/class in the North American junior formula car ranks via the FormulaSPEED2.0. EFormulaCarNews.com recently got the opportunity to speak with the founders of the new car, World Speed Motorsports Mark Milazzo and Telo Stewart, going over the various aspects of the new project.

EFORMULACARNEWS.COM: Let's start out by talking about the idea to create a new junior formula car. When and how did the first idea of creating the FormulaSPEED2.0 come about?

MARK MILAZZO: We currently have over 25 formula cars in our shop, most of them are Pro Formula Mazdas. Being based at Infineon Raceway, literally a few hundred feet from the world class karting track, we get a decent number of people who stop in to visit and learn about what we do. Plenty of them are interested in running in the Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear, but are leery of the costs of running a Pro Formula Mazda. They still have the FM option, which is a great fast car, but many people have been asking for something a bit more modern.

TELO STEWART: We first started to work on a new car about three years ago. At first it was discussions of updating an existing popular car to have the things we think people want in a car today, but once we started looking at doing an update, we found that there would have to be too many compromises, and that wasn’t what we wanted.

EFCN: Upon thinking and discussing the idea, what was the driving moment to officially get the project underway?

MILAZZO: As Telo mentioned, at first we looked at what it would take to modernize the FM car. Once we headed down that road it was obvious that the upgrades would be more expensive than the cost to buy a FM. Telo and I then met and listed what the perfect car for this niche would have. Some of the important features of our perfect car would have to include a reasonable purchase price, low running costs, high quality components, simple maintenance, safety, and lap times better than a Formula Mazda. We looked at all the options that were available, and talked to many open-wheel manufacturers and realized that no one made something that came even close to what we were looking for. It was at that moment that we realized that if we wanted a racecar that would meet all our parameters, we would have to lead the charge. That was close to two years ago, and we made our first official announcement at the 2009 PRI show in December.

STEWART: I think the moment happened before we even realized it, maybe we didn’t even have a defining moment. We knew we had drivers who needed, or wanted, a car that didn’t exist. Once we knew that was the case, we just moved toward making a new car a reality. I will admit we thought we could do it faster, but as the car started taking form it just kept getting better and that took time.

EFCN: The FormulaSPEED2.0 car appears to be positioned just below what we see being raced in the pro junior formula car ranks with regards to speed and costs. Why did you chose the car to fit in this level/position?

MILAZZO: It just seems to make good sense to be in that niche. If you are a hobbyist and you can get this kind of performance for the money it is a great deal, but also if you are a karter looking to get experience in a fast modern car this is also a great value. The car is less than $70k, and to run with a top level team in our region is about $60k including tires, fuel, and entry fees. If you do all of your own work we expect you could cut the budget down by another $25k. This is high-end open wheel racing for what a lot of people spend in karting.

STEWART: The car ties in with our concept for the Formula Car Challenge, which is to have a great venue for a high level of competition at a budget that is not only attainable with significant (frequently outside) funding. We want to bridge the gap between school racing, or karting, and pro-racing – as well as to give a great venue to people who no aspirations of becoming a “pro.” The FormulaSPEED2.0 was designed to meet those criteria whether inside the FCC or not.

EFCN: The concept right from the get go was to create a junior formula car that was reasonably priced, yet provided good 'bang for the buck". What was the biggest stumbling block, if any, early on in meeting this goal?

MILAZZO: We really wanted to keep the buy in price low. In early discussions that number was in the $60k range. A low price is great, but we didn't want to have low quality components anywhere on the car. The FTR transaxle that is used in the FormulaSPEED2.0 is the same basic unit that you will find in the Star Mazda, F3, and GP3 cars. We could have used a lower priced unit and saved six or seven thousand dollars per car, but then the car would not be as durable as we wanted. The FTR has been bulletproof in our Star Mazda cars, and they have forty more horsepower than a FormulaSPEED2.0. We could have also saved a few thousand dollars on dampers by going with a low end non-adjustable or single adjustable entry level damper. Instead we went with Ohlins TX36 double adjustable dampers which are of the highest quality. There were many items that this happened with, and all of the better components did make the car price creep up, but it is more important to us that the end user have a high quality fast and durable racecar than for the buy in to be 10 grand less.

EFCN: Building on this, partnerships must have been key in getting the car produced and keeping costs under control. How did you chose who to work with, and how have these relationships develope through the process?

MILAZZO: Telo and I made a wish list of who we would like to work on specific parts of the car, and we were lucky enough to be able to get all the people we wanted onto the team.

STEWART: We were lucky to be able to partner with people we know well and have worked with for years in different capacities. We have worked with Hasselgren and Fast Forward since the mid 1990s in Atlantic, and Fast Forward had also helped us on countless other projects, not to mention our daily relationship with IGR and our first hand knowledge of Aerocraft’s capabilities and drive. This really gave us a team development arrangement built on the mutual respect of all of the parties. We all knew that the person doing each part knew their stuff.

EFCN: What would you say are the key aspects about the car, that set it apart when potential racers are looking at buying a new junior formula car?

MILAZZO: Performance for the price can't be touched by any open-wheel racecar that I am aware of. The running costs are much lower than usual, as the car is overbuilt in every aspect. The FormulaSPEED2.0 also has the largest cockpit of any junior formula car on the market, making it easier to fit drivers of all sizes. In addition to all of these features, owners of the FormulaSPEED2.0 will be given access to a plethora of information on how to prep, set-up, repair, and maintain their car. All of the service procedures, and the mileage of when to perform them will be provided to competitors. This is a giant change in philosophy from most racecar manufacturers.

STEWART: The performance to price relationship and the ability to accommodate drivers of different sizes are a couple big ones, but I do think that the reliability and low operating costs will prove to be very popular with the drivers.

EFCN: How are sales going thus far, and how is the manufacturing process going to date?

MILAZZO: Through our extensive testing program we have been finalizing a couple of small items for the production cars. We currently have four new cars in the pipeline that should be on track in January or February of 2011.

STEWART: I will say that we are coming to market at a tough time in the economy, but that plays to the concept of this car. The interest has been overwhelmingly favorable, and I think that as soon as we get some people in the cars for tests and drivers are talking to each other about their experience we will see the sales ramp up.
 
EFCN: For the most part the new FormulaSPEED2.0 cars will be raced in the successful Formula Car Challenge series. How do you think this will affect the racing action within the series, with Pro Mazda and Standard Mazda cars already on-course at the same time?

MILAZZO: That is a great question. In a perfect world I guess we would have 25-35 of each type of car competing in its own sessions. Unfortunately that isn't the case right now. When we noticed that car counts in most open-wheel series across the country were dwindling, we did some due diligence into why and what could we do to address the problem. The FormulaSPEED2.0 is a component of this, but the Formula Car Challenge presented by Goodyear is an equal component. We looked at IMSA, Grand-Am, and other endurance races and noted that their fields were still decent. This was due to the fact that they might have up to five different classes all sharing the track at once. We took that model to our series. By doing this we had two events this year that had 35 cars on the grid. The FM and PFM are close enough in performance that it is not unusual for the fastest FM driver to be working the back of the PFM field. The FS2.0 is designed to be right in between these cars in performance, but as is always the case, the driver is one of your most important components. We're really excited to have a third class in our series. We expect it to make the show that much better.

STEWART: The concept of the multiple classes has served us well, and we are certainly not alone, as SCCA and other groups regularly run groups with eight or more classes on track at the same time, and up to 25 cars per mile of track. We limit the classes to just two, or now three, that are very well matched, and we also limit car count to a more reasonable level. Competitors have also grown to appreciate the format as well, some of the fastest guys in the FMs end up getting to race with a PFM when they might otherwise be alone, and vise versa.

EFCN: With I'm sure new owners also looking at SCCA competition, have you approached the SCCA about getting the car homologated in one of the National or Regional classes?

MILAZZO: The FormulaSPEED2.0 is already legal for regional SCCA competition in the FS class. The car was designed to well exceed the safety requirements for the SCCA FA National class, and we have been working closely with the SCCA National office to get the FormulaSPEED2.0 homologated in FA before the end of this year. UPDATE: The FS2.0 is homologated for National competition in FA as of January 2011.

STEWART: Even though we have a strong affiliation with NASA, and the FCC is a NASA Sactioned series, we have been working closely with SCCA to make sure that the FS2.0 is accepted there. This is important since several of the FCC regions run many of their races on SCCA weekends, as well as the simple fact that SCCA is still one of the largest amateur racing organizations.

EFCN: Lastly, what has been the feedback from those who have had the chance to drive the FormulaSPEED2.0?

MILAZZO: On the maiden voyage a few months ago Scott Bradley (the 2001 Star Mazda Champion) drove the car, and he said it was the very best prototype he had ever driven. This was a great compliment, as Bradley was one of the first drivers to test the Pro Formula Mazda in 2003, and we know how great that car is. Comments have been that the power is very linear and the car is very quick. At our most recent tests at Buttonwillow Raceway our cornering speeds were only four miles per hour off former Star Mazda champion Adrian Carrio in his Pro FM. Our testing program now is now really focusing on what our spec geometry will be, and just putting on the miles to see if we can break anything. It's been as durable as a set of golf clubs so far.

STEWART: We are very pleased with the performance so far.

EFCN: It's been great speaking with you guys, and learning more about the new FormulaSPEED2.0 car. It certainly sounds like you've done a great job, and we can't wait to see several of them racing in anger in 2011.

STEWART; Thanks for your time and interest in our series and the FormulaSPEED2.0. We appreciate everything that eFormulaCarNews.com does for our industry and the open-wheel racing community.

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